Books: The Strength of One

A good man is hard to find, and intolerable to men and gods once he is
found. The age of the anti-hero tends to overlook this fascinating
half-truth, which is the durable paradox at the core of Oedipus Rex and
Othello. But Ken Kesey used it well in his short, cruelly focused first
novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. McMurphy, laughing con man and
indestructible alley fighter, cons his way into an insane asylum to
escape the drudgery of a prison farm. His battle is with Big Nurse, the
white-starched...